European Boat and Line Class Championships Results
Weymouth 19th to 23rd September 2011
Several of the committee members, distant travellers, eager competitors & their companions had arrived in Weymouth a few days before the main events were due to start, some had travelled early to book into their hotels, apartments, cottages & bed & breakfasts others to wet their lines with a practice day or two.
After booking into our little cottage in Weymouth centre we then headed for the HQ to assist with the registration, cannot say that HQ Hotel looked that plush from outside, however when you walk into the function rooms, viewed the bar area & see the bedrooms, it was quite a different storey. The facilities were quite superb even if you did have to walk through sector 57 to get to the bedrooms.
I don’t recall ever seeing so many £50 notes at one time, not quite sure where they all came from. A steady stream of competitors arrived for Saturdays registration with most choosing to enter into every event I guess they must have felt confident of winning, either that or this way they spread their chances of making it to the podium.
A few competitors decided to have a practice in the Harbour just in case the wind prevented the boats heading to the usual marks, Colin Searles & Rod Adamson had a mini species competition using size 12 hooks baited with tiny pieces of rag worm, the blennies & wrasse were soon being swung in by Colin who stuck it out through the rain as Rod sort shelter in a nearby doorway, the final score was Colin 45 Rod 18. This is an ideal place to take any budding young anglers as many species can be caught in the Harbour without resorting to the usual crab line tactics that many youngsters seem so drawn too, a small rod & reel with just a basic rig could be the start of our next world champion.
Parade and opening ceremony
What a sight! It’s surprising how many people ask questions when everybody is dressed in their nations uniform “don’t you all look so smart”, “what is this all about then”? “Is this the fishing competition that I read about in the Echo”?
With around 250 people taking part in the parade headed by the trio of African drummers it was quite some spectacle. The wind assisted in showing off the national flags and at least the rain was only isolated showers. The traffic was halted by the local police as the parade started from the Jubilee clock and headed to the Pavilion where we were to be greeted by the deputy mayor, Councillor Margaret Lester (wife of Bon Wey’s Ken)
The refreshments and nibbles went down as people took their seats, EFSA England chairman Neil Bryant introduced the dignitaries including Horst Schneider and Margaret Lester, Horst then announced that the general secretary (Hamish Holmes) was too retire after many years service to EFSA, his successor (Marcus Wuest) will a worthy replacement, even if he will be in Singapore! I’m sure that you will join me in wishing both successes in their new roles. The two moments that will remain with me are the emotions displayed by Horst & Hamish whilst presenting the picture and Neil’s face when he was asked to wave the flag to mark the opening of the championships, priceless!
Boat championships
Arriving early at the quayside to sort the bait for each boat had its rewards, the quayside was quiet and the sunrise quite superb although neither lasted long as the competitors started to arrive at 6.45am keen to get to see or be 1st in the queue for the bacon rolls & coffee (nice touch that refreshments van) the tea went down well especially with those that had been in the Ammo freezer van, thanks to Pete Bailey, Ash Currier & Rob Quinn for “volunteering” their services.
Bait sorted it was time to summon the boat captains and stewards to check the bait packs for their boats, this operation was no easier throughout the week as Captains & stewards either took the bait without checking it or letting us know they had collected it, failed to arrive without being chased, the numbers on the boats changed, some did not like the worms on top of the frozen baits or cold bacon rolls on top of the worms, but most checked the condition of the worms, counted the amount and left happy.
Day one
After a quick captain/steward briefing from Neil & Andy the boats started to load and head off to find shelter from the wind.
Some headed for the shelter of Portland to seek the Wrasse, Pollack & Garfish others headed into the bay to search out the Dogfish, Pout, Gurnard, Scad, Bream, etc. Young Ryan Casey made an impressive start on Al’s-Spirit when he took a Bream/Gurnard double shot. On Atlanta Malcolm Ruff stated that he required a Bull Huss for his yearly specimen hunt, sometimes our best laid plans do not always work, not that the Bull Huss were not playing as Patricia Shortt fished next to Malcolm and managed to catch 3 of them, 3-0 to Pat. Pat also managed to land a conger without her butt pad, that she decided she would not need!
Day two
Another windy day (worse than Monday) again saw the boats heading for the shelter of Portland, this is what makes this such an important venue for this kind of competition.
Christina Schulte caught a 4 ½ lb plaice only problem she had hooked it in the tail! Pat shortt had her 1st ever Bream a fine specimen of around 1 ½ lb. Paul Milkins managed to capture a Portland Penguin or more commonly known as a Guillemot, not sure if this counted as unclassed though (the bird was untangled and set free unharmed)
Day three
It is so very easy to slip down the table, I had a blinding start to the week finishing in 2nd place overall, only to drop to 53rd on day 2, little bit like snakes and ladders!
Less wind today so the boats headed further afield, this was quite good for the anglers who are more used to targeting larger fish, it also helped with the planned evening meal for Thursday night as several fine bream were returned to the quayside.
Day four
Much improved weather today so the boats headed off to marks much further afield than the 1st two days, Helgi Bergson caught a notable 112cm Bull Huss on Meridian Express (around 14lb) whist Paul Robinson had a 10lb Bull Huss + 8lb Conger double shot nice points for that one. There were also reports of a porbeagle shark stealing a Gurnard and swimming alongside one of the boats, not that these are uncommon to this area of our coast as they have been sighted a lot this year.
Ray Barron was the only angler to win his boat on all 4 days and regain his title of European champion for the 3rd time, with Heiko & Colin close behind, maybe we should place Ray and Heiko on the same boat for a week to decide who is the best? As they are now level on three European gold pins each, quite some feat when you look at the quality of the anglers in this year’s competition.
Top three
1 107) R. Barron 100(113),100(112),100(99),100(76) 400 ( 400)
2 86) H. Dreier 98.45(127),100(97),100(129),100(137) 398.45 ( 490)
3 115) C. Searles 100(106),100(88),99.23(129),96.12(99) 395.35 ( 422)
International Teams
England A came out top of the international teams, closely followed by the two Italian teams who came in 2nd & 3rd, although they did give those English boys a good run for their money
1st
16) England A 400(425),378.35(351),386.95(435),360.93(390) 1526.23( 1601)
R. Russell (99)
R. Barron (107)
C. Searles (115)
G. Galbraith (121)
N. Bryant (127)
2nd
12) Italy B 395.12(375),361.55(298),397.75(437),365.84(470) 1520.26( 1580)
U. Fontemaggi (72)
M. La Bella (73)
S. Messina (74)
M. Amato (75)
R. Scalzo (76)
3rd
11) Italy A 363.1(389),374.88(338),381.13(436),385.14(436) 1504.24( 1599)
V. Erani (68)
D. Salvatori (69)
M. Salvatori (70)
R. Melandri (71)
A. Giacomini (77)
Light line championships
Offshore Rebel had a nightmare start to his day when one of his new engines blew a head casket as he headed out of the Harbour, not to be put off the crew exchanged boats and headed back to sea, still when the crew returned to port they had a nice view of Weymouth as the light faded and the lights came on.
A very sportsman like gesture on Topcat from Dave Francis and Frank Spruyt as they both cut their line to allow Robin Amor to land his Conger.
Young Lyle on Supernova anchored several times to keep us on the Conger, with Liv Ogland landing a fine 58lb specimen, I think that the Women listened more to the skippers than the men, take your time and don not try to bully the fish to the surface, wise works not always heeded by the macho males. That Ande line is quite superb so long as the rest of the tackle is well balanced and the drag set to allow the fish to take line. The ladies nearly overturned the gents in this one with a couple of them capturing 8 Conger each.
On Rocket Simon Norman had a 81cm blonde Ray, this was larger than the best Ray in the main event, Kim Bowden captured a Bass of 66cm, the only one caught during the whole 5 days.
Gareth Croft became our new light line champion with an impressive 1325cm of Conger quite a clear lead over the silver and bronze pin winners Scott Gibson & Joop Schik/Andre Machiels
Boat winners
1 125) G. Croft 100(1325) 100 (1325)
2 34) S. Gibson 100(778) 100 (778)
3 2) J. Schik 100(750) 100 (750)
3 6) A. Machiels 100(750) 100 (750)
5 118) S. Norman 100(731) 100 (731)
6 46) S. Souter 100(725) 100 (725)
7 119) M. Ruff 100(694) 100 (694)
8 127) N. Bryant 100(585) 100 (585)
9 60) S. Kjartansdottir 100(550) 100 (550)
9 24) A. Kadzharduzov 100(550) 100 (550)
11 23) M. Dyshlyuk 100(531) 100 (531)
12 112) M. Bobbett 100(475) 100 (475)
12 92) T. Unsgaard 100(475) 100 (475)
14 153) B. Larsson 100(457) 100 (457)
15 107) R. Barron 100(450) 100 (450)
15 140) R. Shattock 100(450) 100 (450)
17 150) P. Milkins 100(375) 100 (375)
18 43) E. Hughes 100(275) 100 (275)
18 110) R. Amor 100(275) 100 (275)
Sponsors
We would like to extend a massive thank you to all our sponsors as without their support this event would not have happened; Fladen, Ande, Ammo baits, Dragon baits, Snowbee UK ltd, Weymouth Angling centre, The Roman group, Sakuma, Sidewinder lures, Plastimo, Tronix, Grauvell, Redgill, Penn, Mercedes Benz and of course the venue for their superb effort with the function rooms, early breakfast, 3 course meals, packed lunches and general hospitality.
The presentation & gala dinner
The presentation went superbly (apart from the minor mix up of nationality) watching people’s faces as they saw themselves projected on the wall behind the stage was priceless, a bit like when you see the reaction of individuals when the camera catches them at sporting events or concerts and projects their face to the whole crowd. Thanks to Peter Bryant for setting this up, just shows that it is worth the effort of taking photographs at these events.
With so many prizes and prize winners it was hard to keep up with it all, I am sure that everyone got the picture that they wanted as there was many a picture taken. Congratulations to all who fished well enough to make it to the rostrum.
The 3 coarse meal was exceptional and the idea of mixing the nationalities went well with most tables (I’m sure that you all heard the rowdy lot at the back of the room)
The live band was a nice touch, not quite sure if they took time getting warmed up or the audience were slow getting up after all that food, either way they were very entertaining.
I believe that some of the organisers remained at the bar until 4am, a well deserved relaxation period as they have worked extremely hard to ensure that this event went as well as it did, now let’s look ahead to 2015!
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